After signing the contract, paying, and going together to get the necessary permits, Lu Zhiyu officially became the owner of the pet shop. Getting the permits for a pet shop was relatively simple and cost only a few hundred yuan.
Now that he had a pet shop of his own, Lu Zhiyu got busy. He hired someone to make a few minor adjustments to the decor, and then the new Cats and Dogs Pet Shop officially opened. The previous owner had also left him a pet groomer, an experienced hand who knew how to care for the shop's animals. She was a great help to Lu Zhiyu, who was just starting out.
"Sorry for the trouble, Xiao Le. I'm just getting started here, so there's a lot to do. If you run into any problems, feel free to tell me!"
"Okay, boss!" the girl replied politely. Her hair had been permed into soft curls. After they waved goodbye, she turned and walked to the intersection in front of the shop, disappearing into the night among the crowds and streetlights.
Lu Zhiyu had been busy all day. By nightfall, the first day of business was finally over. He hadn't sold any pets, but quite a few customers had come in for grooming and baths. Xiao Le was young, but she loved animals and was very skilled at trimming their fur. Every little cat or dog that came in with a tangled, dirty coat went out looking like a model.
Lu Zhiyu sat inside the pet shop with the door half open and read for a while before heading home. As soon as he arrived, he went to the laboratory he had set up earlier. But it was empty now. He took out the Universe Scroll and unfolded it, revealing the inside of the Crystal Wall System. Unlike before, there was now an incredibly tiny bubble within it, too small to see with the naked eye.
This was a small subdimensional plane Lu Zhiyu had created for himself. It had only about a thousand square meters of space—just enough for a house. The entire plane was packed tightly with stone, from top to bottom, and divided into nine levels. Built in an ancient Western style, it resembled a castle.
But this small subdimensional plane wasn't independent. It was embedded in the Maria World, pressed tightly against it. Its internal systems, energy, and even its air were drawn from within the Maria World. It wasn't a small world of its own.
So it had taken Lu Zhiyu only three units of Source Substance to build the small subdimensional space. Embedded in the Maria World, it would serve as his secret base. He named it the Space Castle.
Lu Zhiyu put away the Universe Scroll and looked at the ground. A complex magic circle covered it. He poured in his mental energy and activated the Dimensional Gate. His shadow flickered, and he vanished from Earth. A moment later, his figure appeared inside the Space Castle. As soon as he arrived, the lights came on, illuminating the entire floor.
Lu Zhiyu stood in the first-floor hall, feeling a little at a loss. He looked at the crystal chandelier overhead, the decorative patterns on the walls, and the light switches. Some things had been created with Source Substance, some had been bought on Earth, and others had been taken from the Maria World. By generating them according to its rules and modifying and combining them, he had created this castle.
This was Lu Zhiyu's first time entering the space inside the Universe Scroll. Only when he stood there in person could he feel that the world he had created wasn't false or illusory. It truly existed.
He looked at the grand hall, at the glass set into its ceiling and the light refracted through it, then glanced around and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Room after room came into view, all built according to his plans. But most of them were unfurnished, with only basic furniture. After all, even with Source Substance, Lu Zhiyu couldn't create things he didn't understand.
Besides, he wanted to conserve as much Source Substance as he could. Even 0.0001 was still Source Substance—the most fundamental energy in the world. Without the Universe Scroll, he wouldn't even have been able to touch something of such a high level.
As he made his way upward, he passed a conference hall, a library, a dining room, an indoor swimming pool, a lounge, bedrooms, a laboratory, and a prison. A Botanical Garden occupied the top floor. The building had five floors above ground and four below, making it so vast that it was almost hard to imagine.
For now, the castle ran on a diesel generator, which was just about enough. But Lu Zhiyu had another idea: the Bio-Nuclear Energy Machine the Insect Queen had left behind, still abandoned in the Painting Space. It remained hidden deep inside the dried-up hive.
It could devour any substance—even water—and convert it into nuclear energy. The Insect Queen, Sunike, had relied on it to raise her vast armies and conquer the world. But although the machine had no intelligence or consciousness, it was still dangerous. Lu Zhiyu was only considering the idea for now. It would be a while before he could put it into practice!
Lu Zhiyu reached the top floor. It was designed to offer a full view of the sky, with glass all around forming a dome. This was where he planned to build the Botanical Garden, though for now it was just an empty shell.
When Lu Zhiyu turned on the lights, he could see a blurry layer beyond the glass. It was the plane's boundary, which ordinary people couldn't approach or touch. Anyone who walked into it would naturally loop back around, while the folds in the space made it feel as if they had entered a maze.
Beyond the countless folds of the plane's boundary lay the Ether Sea, also known as the Astral Realm. It was a place of utter nothingness. There was nothing there yet, and nothing could survive there.
After exploring the Space Castle, Lu Zhiyu returned to the bedroom he had set aside for himself. He took out the Universe Scroll and hung it on the wall. From then on, he wouldn't take it out unless he had to. It was safest here. Since he himself had the authority to control the Universe Scroll, it made no difference where he was; he could enter and leave freely through the Dimensional Gate.
Lu Zhiyu adjusted the view on the Universe Scroll and watched the Maria World grow larger and larger. A green continent gradually came into view. In a valley, he saw a group of short, upright, humanoid creatures. They had short white fur, long whiskers, and small eyes. Their limbs had evolved to look very much like human limbs.
These were the result of Lu Zhiyu's earlier experiment: the Rat-kin, a genuine intelligent species he had created. They had formed a community in the Maria World. He had taken the genes of rats and fitted them to a human template to create Rat-kin genes, then used them to synthesize artificial embryos. He had placed the embryos inside a dog's womb, and, to his surprise, he had actually created an intelligent species.
As adults, they stood only about 1.3 meters tall, but they had already entered a primitive society. They could use tools and fire, and make clothes from the pelts of beasts. The first sprouts of civilization had begun to emerge among them.
Lu Zhiyu watched the little creatures through the Universe Scroll, his pupils contracting slightly as if he were witnessing a miracle of life.
"I can create intelligent life too!" Lu Zhiyu felt as though he had stepped into the realm of the gods!
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